Cry me a River - Atheist Nexus2016-12-10T01:48:32Zhttp://atheistnexus.org/forum/topics/cry-me-a-river?commentId=2182797%3AComment%3A2128130&feed=yes&xn_auth=noThank you James Kz - I downlo…tag:atheistnexus.org,2012-12-25:2182797:Comment:21298132012-12-25T17:02:15.091ZSteph S.http://atheistnexus.org/profile/StephS
<p>Thank you James Kz - I downloaded the podcast and subscribed to the show.</p>
<p>Thank you James Kz - I downloaded the podcast and subscribed to the show.</p> Yes I was on Ask an Atheist,…tag:atheistnexus.org,2012-12-25:2182797:Comment:21297952012-12-25T15:11:06.640ZJames Kzhttp://atheistnexus.org/profile/JamesKz
<p>Yes I was on <em>Ask an Atheist</em>, (I don't know about the celebrity part though) on a show about an apostate Muslim and atheists in government. The original interview was to be with Rep Pete Starke and me, but Mr Starke had another sudden issue come up, so they gave me all his time.</p>
<p>For the link, if you are interested, <a href="http://askanatheist.tv/2012/11/11/winning-the-elections-and-islam/">The Elections and Islam</a> takes you to the summary of the show (which includes the…</p>
<p>Yes I was on <em>Ask an Atheist</em>, (I don't know about the celebrity part though) on a show about an apostate Muslim and atheists in government. The original interview was to be with Rep Pete Starke and me, but Mr Starke had another sudden issue come up, so they gave me all his time.</p>
<p>For the link, if you are interested, <a href="http://askanatheist.tv/2012/11/11/winning-the-elections-and-islam/">The Elections and Islam</a> takes you to the summary of the show (which includes the original E-mail I sent to <em>Ask An Atheist</em> that prompted the interview, and the link to the Podcast).</p> Hey Tony if you are on that s…tag:atheistnexus.org,2012-12-25:2182797:Comment:21295922012-12-25T02:17:46.416ZSteph S.http://atheistnexus.org/profile/StephS
<p>Hey Tony if you are on that show I would like a link to it. I would love to hear it.</p>
<p></p>
<p>Hey Tony if you are on that show I would like a link to it. I would love to hear it.</p>
<p></p> Say, did I hear you on Ask an…tag:atheistnexus.org,2012-12-24:2182797:Comment:21294622012-12-24T19:09:28.114ZHumble Piehttp://atheistnexus.org/profile/HumblePie
<p>Say, did I hear you on Ask and Atheist recently? You're a celebrity! ;)</p>
<p></p>
<p>Seriously, though, that's a great story you tell, and an inspiring one. It's good to hear about a world where everyone is willing to work and live together and not worry too much about faith or creeds.</p>
<p>Say, did I hear you on Ask and Atheist recently? You're a celebrity! ;)</p>
<p></p>
<p>Seriously, though, that's a great story you tell, and an inspiring one. It's good to hear about a world where everyone is willing to work and live together and not worry too much about faith or creeds.</p> James -
The radical value of…tag:atheistnexus.org,2012-12-23:2182797:Comment:21285472012-12-23T17:01:16.268ZDaniel Wachenheimhttp://atheistnexus.org/profile/Daniel57
<p>James - </p>
<p>The radical value of being "out" is in humanizing the "other". </p>
<p>James - </p>
<p>The radical value of being "out" is in humanizing the "other". </p> Though I live in, putatively,…tag:atheistnexus.org,2012-12-23:2182797:Comment:21284722012-12-23T15:54:54.970ZJames Kzhttp://atheistnexus.org/profile/JamesKz
<p>Though I live in, putatively, the most religious state outside the Bible Belt, no one around here has put up the claim the shooter was somehow the "instrument of God's wrath with America."</p>
<p>The religious folk in my village, like myself, are just stunned that someone could do that at all.</p>
<p>There is one potentially good thing that the religious wingnuts can do for the reason-minded around here.</p>
<p>Since just about every television set is Super-Glued to Fox News and such…</p>
<p>Though I live in, putatively, the most religious state outside the Bible Belt, no one around here has put up the claim the shooter was somehow the "instrument of God's wrath with America."</p>
<p>The religious folk in my village, like myself, are just stunned that someone could do that at all.</p>
<p>There is one potentially good thing that the religious wingnuts can do for the reason-minded around here.</p>
<p>Since just about every television set is Super-Glued to Fox News and such statements get traction on that alleged news network, and what they have to compare the ravings of Beck and Hannity and Dobson and the Westboro Baptist Church with are the two atheists they know in person (me on the city council and with a gaily-married sister, my wife on the public library board, and both about as mild as they come), the claims that "atheists" or others are the "evil" in our society do not square with what they see on television.</p>
<p>And it makes them question their beloved pundits just a little bit. They do not see us as evil. And if we are not evil, perhaps there are others who are also not evil, and maybe this shooter (and the one in Pennsylvania who did his thing whilst the NRA was making its public statement against the mentally ill, film, and video games) had other issues, not the "flaming bullets of God's wrath."</p>
<p>And perhaps one or more just might be persuaded to consider these alleged religious leaders are manipulating them. They have living evidence to the contrary in my wife and me.</p>
<p>Just as the Evangelicals are trying to take over all society one person at a time, we must push back the same way.</p> The question “why?” is, in th…tag:atheistnexus.org,2012-12-23:2182797:Comment:21282612012-12-23T04:08:19.635ZAsa Watcherhttp://atheistnexus.org/profile/AsaWatcher
<p>The question “why?” is, in this situation, as absurd as the answers one gets when the question is asked. </p>
<p>The only “why?” questions that can be reasonably answered are the self evident ones . . . like </p>
<p>“Why did you move your foot?” </p>
<p>“Well, because I dropped a brick, and there is this thing called gravity”.</p>
<p>“Why were you late?”</p>
<p>“Because I had a flat tire.”</p>
<p>Those “why?” questions are not of the same nature as a question like “Why was Hitler so bad?” …</p>
<p>The question “why?” is, in this situation, as absurd as the answers one gets when the question is asked. </p>
<p>The only “why?” questions that can be reasonably answered are the self evident ones . . . like </p>
<p>“Why did you move your foot?” </p>
<p>“Well, because I dropped a brick, and there is this thing called gravity”.</p>
<p>“Why were you late?”</p>
<p>“Because I had a flat tire.”</p>
<p>Those “why?” questions are not of the same nature as a question like “Why was Hitler so bad?” . . . or . . .“Why did Adam Lanza do what he did?” and they are essentially unanswerable beyond the obvious: “It’s what he wanted to do.” I doubt that even Lanza himself had the introspective ability to answer that question. It remains to be seen if American society has the introspective ability to come to grips with the variety of its many forms of social insanity.</p>
<p>The question we <span style="text-decoration: underline;">should</span> be asking in the public realm is “What can we learn from this tragedy?” and even then, the answer might very well be “not much”.</p>
<p>“<em>What can we do in the immediate future to prevent such horrors</em>?” Now <span style="text-decoration: underline;">that</span> is a question that has many valid answers, and <span style="text-decoration: underline;">that</span> is where our collective attention should be focused.</p>
<p>Trying to answer "why?" is a waste of time.</p>
<p> </p> A non-xian (whose name I don'…tag:atheistnexus.org,2012-12-22:2182797:Comment:21279082012-12-22T20:09:31.275Ztom sarbeckhttp://atheistnexus.org/profile/TomSarbeck
<p>A non-xian (whose name I don't recall) defined the god term: a supernatural being who possesses all the ideal qualities of a human father.</p>
<p>The natural fathers of many xians didn't satisfy their needs, so they fantasize a desired father.</p>
<p>We wouldn't be looking for logical or mathematical attributes, would we?</p>
<p></p>
<p>A non-xian (whose name I don't recall) defined the god term: a supernatural being who possesses all the ideal qualities of a human father.</p>
<p>The natural fathers of many xians didn't satisfy their needs, so they fantasize a desired father.</p>
<p>We wouldn't be looking for logical or mathematical attributes, would we?</p>
<p></p> H. P., consider the propositi…tag:atheistnexus.org,2012-12-22:2182797:Comment:21281302012-12-22T19:49:40.176Ztom sarbeckhttp://atheistnexus.org/profile/TomSarbeck
<p>H. P., consider the proposition that 9/11 was justified, in Middle Easterners' minds, by American foreign policy in their lands since at least 1953 when our CIA overthrew Iran's elected leader, installed a tyrant, and trained his secret police to frighten Iranians into obedience.</p>
<p>Over oil. I had just returned from the Korean War and the news outraged me.</p>
<p>England's Anglo-Iranian Oil Company (now BP) was behaving like America's robber barons of the late 1800s. Iran's new elected…</p>
<p>H. P., consider the proposition that 9/11 was justified, in Middle Easterners' minds, by American foreign policy in their lands since at least 1953 when our CIA overthrew Iran's elected leader, installed a tyrant, and trained his secret police to frighten Iranians into obedience.</p>
<p>Over oil. I had just returned from the Korean War and the news outraged me.</p>
<p>England's Anglo-Iranian Oil Company (now BP) was behaving like America's robber barons of the late 1800s. Iran's new elected government (their first, as I recall) wanted a higher royalty (nearer what the U.S. was paying Saudi Arabia) and other improvements. The CIA first asked President Truman to okay the overthrow and he refused. Soon after Eisenhower became president, he consented to the overthrow.</p>
<p>America aborted their attempt at democracy. After Iranians overthrew their tyrant, their religious crazies took over.</p>
<p>There's a lot more info in Wikipedia and elsewhere.</p>
<p></p> Tony, this is a great place t…tag:atheistnexus.org,2012-12-22:2182797:Comment:21276942012-12-22T16:57:18.264ZDaniel Wachenheimhttp://atheistnexus.org/profile/Daniel57
<p>Tony, this is a great place to vent. And you are right on every line. Thank you!</p>
<p>Tony, this is a great place to vent. And you are right on every line. Thank you!</p>